Brian Dennert here

I didn't see all of the ads but of what I saw this was my favorite:

Imported from Detroit.

In my I have questions for __________ series for my blog I post questions for candidates and then they can post their reply.

Edward Headington is running for the 38th State Assembly district as a Democrat. His opponents include Republicans Scott Wilk and Patricia McKeon.

Edward,

What education reforms, beyond funding, do you support?

You can post your reply here as a comment or email me.

Akiva Werbalowskyhas declared he is running for Congress. I emailed him and he agreed to be interviewed. As he is isn't as well-known in Ventura County partisan politics I am going to ask him a wide-variety of questions. After I post that the interview is over if he feels like taking questions from readers that is up to him. But for this interview the only posts are from the two of us.

This is from the Ventura County Star story:

...a Ron Paul supporter from Ojai announced he will be a candidate...

Akiva Werbalowsky, a permaculture designer from Ojai, became the third Republican to enter the race, saying he, like Paul in the presidential campaign, will advocate a libertarian conservative view.

"I consider myself similar to Barry Goldwater, who believed that personal liberty is the primary concern of a conservative," he said Thursday.

Werbalowsky, 47, said he had hoped to compete for the Republican endorsement. Told that the county GOP voted Wednesday to endorse Strickland, he said, "They can always turn that around."

He formerly managed the ecological agriculture and permaculture programs at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and said he is now working on a book on bioregional food security.

"Californians caring for ecological health deserve a strong voice in our nation's Capitol, and I ask to be that voice," he said. "Any debate between jobs or the environment clearly indicates we need smarter jobs."

Akiva Werbalowsky, click on continue reading for the first question.

Barack Obama announced his support for a ban on insider trading by Members of Congress.

Click on continue reading for an email from his team asking for help to support this initiative.

The Senate has voted to end this corrupt practice. Will the House Act?

I am asking the candidates for Congress from Ventura County if they support this bill. I will post the replies from the candidates as they come in.

David Pollock was the first to reply:

David Cruz Thayne also quickly replied:

I will post the replies of the other candidates when they answer the question.

The Courage Campaign is well-known for their viral videos.

The Ventura County Democratic Campaign Council and the Courage Campaign are teaming up to train activists. Here is their announcement:

Activist training by the Courage Campaign

Saturday, Feb. 18, 1-5 p.m.
Location: Ventura County Democratic Party Headquarters, 1760 Ventura Blvd., Camarillo.
Cost: $20. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Details: Training materials, snacks, beverages and coffee included

Click on continue reading for more details.

This would be a great event for some of the new organizers working on local campaigns.

I agree with Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt that Simi Valley politics will be much more interesting because of redistricting.

There is a State Assembly race that involves two influential Republicans from Santa Clarita. Scott Wilk and Patricia McKeon both have support from Republican Party activists. The district leans Republican but I expect moderate Democrat Edward Headington to make the top two.

Republicans don't have a declared candidate for the State Senate seat yet but many people think Cameron Smyth will declare soon. Democrats have incumbent State Senator Fran Pavley running and she will be campaigning in Simi Valley soon.

A small part of Simi Valley is in the Ventura based Congressional district that has many strong candidates running for it including Steve Bennett, Tony Strickland, David cruz Thayne, David Pollock, and Linda Parks.

The House seat that includes Simi Valley and Santa Clarita so far has incumbent Republican Howard "Buck" McKeon running for it and a new challenger Dr. Lee Rogers. A major issue in that campaign has been the Countrywide VIP loan program that Rep. Buck McKeon allegedly benefited from. Buck McKeon has denied all wrongdoing.

All of this brings me to Simi Valley City Council Member Glen Becerra. When Rep. Elton Gallegly announced his retirement he was quoted as saying:

Simi Valley City Councilman Glen Becerra said he also will take a serious look at entering the race. "This seat looks like it was designed for a Hispanic Republican," he said. Becerra, like Gallegly, lives in Simi Valley, outside of the district lines, but said that makes little difference. "I was born and raised in Ventura County, and this is a Ventura County district," he said.

I wonder if Glen Becerra might consider running for any one of these positions.

House 26th:
I doubt he would run against Tony Strickland. Tony Strickland has quickly united the Republican Party behind him.

House 25th:
Buck McKeon will be weakened from attacks on paying his wife to run work on his campaigns and benefiting from the Countrywide VIP Home Loan program. The attacks on Patricia McKeon from her opponents will hurt Buck McKeon. Could Glen Becerra be tempted to run for what is considered a safe Republican seat because of the growing charges against Buck McKeon and Patricia McKeon from their opponents?

State Senate 27th District:
If Cameron Smyth runs I don't think Glen Becerra would challenge him. Smyth hasn't declared his intentions. I assumed he was going to run but I am not so sure. Cameron Smyth is holding a fundraiser for State Assembly candidate Scott Wilk. That might be a sign that he isn't worried about upsetting special interest groups that are supporting Patricia McKeon. Now that it looks like State Senator Fran Pavley will be the only Democrat running Republicans will consider that challenging her is going to tougher. Fran Pavely is popular with Democratic activists and she has the ability to raise money. She has represented much of the area and was a popular teacher in Moorpark.

Assembly District 38:
If Glen Becerra ran for the State Assembly seat he could have had a decent chance. With the two Santa Clarita based Republicans dividing support from that area he could have joined the Democrat in the top two based on his base of support in Simi Valley. He has already endorsed Scott Wilk though so that would be pretty surprising. Claiming the endorsement of your opponent would make a great mailer. He isn't going to run against Scott Wilk.

Glen Becerra has won four elections to the Simi Valley City Council, including his first when he beat a more conservative incumbent.

The deadline to file is in March. He might not see opportunities like this again for a long time.

David Cruz Thayne had a childhood friend talk in this video to introduce him to voters. From my personal experiences meeting the candidate I would agree his friend accurately describes his personality.

It is hard for candidates to share who they are with voters, especially in CA26 where there isn't a local television station dedicated to Ventura County. I know they may run shorter ads on cable, but it will be very interesting to see how campaigns get their message out using new media methods.

Related: David Pollock's Bad News Bears video goes viral.

( Steve Bennett, David Pollock, and David Cruz Thayne.)

The field isn't officially set for the Ventura County based CA-26 Congressional District but the campaigns have been busy.

On Saturday I was honored to be the host of a program put on by Conejo Valley Democrats called Eye on the issues. They asked me to introduce these three candidates and ask them questions from club members. Democrat Jess Herrera was invited but did not attend. I am not sure why.

The program will play on local cable access and then it will be posted on YouTube.

When the video is posted I will post that and include more of my thoughts.

Some quick thoughts:

1. Reading from a Teleprompter for the first time was interesting. Made much more interesting because I took some strong cold medicine before the show.

2. I am honestly not sure why I would vote for yet. The top two primary system makes strategic voting complicated.

3. I'll ask each for an interview in the future so I can ask them more specifics. If you are running for office and would like to be interviewed online let me know. I like asking specific questions that give candidates the time to think.

Do you remember this location?

Photo by Al Shack. Used with Permission.

Look at these classic styles at Rancho Duck Pond:

Photo by Al Shack. Used with Permission.

If you enjoy Simi Valley History check out the Facebook Page titled Simi Valley Relics. I found their pictures very interesting and wanted to share them. You can upload your own to their page.

They also have more recent pictures including pictures from the filming of Sons of Anarchy at locations in Simi Valley. Simi Valley has been the location of many productions.

Countrywide had a program in place to give politicians special treatment on their home loans to influence them. The scandal has damaged the reputations of prominent Democrats including former Senator Chris Dodd.

The Ventura County Star reports:

The Countrywide VIP program in question was known as "Friends of Angelo," a reference to Angelo Mozilo, the lender's chief executive, whom federal regulators say personally approved mortgages for favored borrowers in violation of lending standards. Mozilo agreed in 2010 to pay more than $67 million in penalties in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wikipedia links to more resources on the Friends of Angelo program.

Recently the Republican controlled House Government Reform Committee added two local new names to the list of legislators that were a part of the program. Elton Gallegly and Buck McKeon received special treatment according to records from Countrywide.

For McKeon it allegedly included:

McKeon is known to have received a Countrywide mortgage for $315,000, and Mozilo instructed the individual handling his loan to "take off 1 point, no garbage fees, approve the loan and make it a no doc," according to documents reviewed by Cummings.

For Gallegly I haven't seen what supposed benefit he received. The released documents don't mention if it was a reduction in fees, a lower interest rate, or a no document loan.

Both Gallegly and McKeon deny knowing they were given any special treatment. From the latest article:

Gallegly and McKeon, whose newly redrawn congressional district takes in part of Simi Valley, said they had no idea their loans were processed under the VIP program but that they are cooperating with the investigation.

What I find interesting is that a program that has been documented to influence legislators was allegedly unknown to those same legislators. To be blunt: how effective can a payoff be if the target doesn't know they are getting the money?

I am looking forward to learning more about what happened and which legislators from both parties were involved.

Neither Gallegly or McKeon have been proven to have done anything wrong. The House Ethics Committee will be investigating this case.

Both of them should return all donations from Angelo Mozilo and any PAC money connected directly to this issue.

Also, Democrats would be better off if Rep. Laura Richardson was no longer in Congress.

The new primary system in California is complicated. Instead of the June Primary election choosing the nominees for each party it will only be selecting the top two candidates who will then run in the November General Election.

The Ventura County based 25th Congressional District currently has 7 candidates running. 5 of them are Democrats and 2 of them are Republicans. Candidates can choose to state a preference or to list no preference. Republican Linda Parks has not announced what she is going to do.

it is possible that the November election for some positions will only have two candidates from the same party.

Democrat Steve Bennett released huge fundraising numbers to The Star. Tony Strickland also released impressive fundraising numbers. The strong financial support has made both of them frontrunners.

The same article reported that Steve Bennett, Hannah-Beth Jackson, and Fran Pavley all received the endorsement of the Democratic Party for the June election. In the new primary system I don't know exactly how that helps the candidates. Is there a promise of tangible support from the state or local party?

If you were a part of the process or understand the importance of the pre-primary endorsement please leave a comment explaining it. You don't need to register to comment.

Congratulations to Steve Bennett and the other candidates for earning the support of their party.

David Pollock's campaign strategy has been focusing on attracting the attention of netroots activists. He released an ad designed to spread to activists outside the district and now he is doing an interview on the popular website Reddit.

Many netroots activists know Reddit was very involved in the protests against SOPA. Rep. Elton Gallegly is a co-sponsor of SOPA, the bill that united Google, Reddit, and Wikpedia to oppose.

He is now doing an IAmA interview with users of Reddit.

Here is his introduction:

IAmA former Bad News Bear running for Congressional Office. I oppose NDAA's suspension of due process, believe that Citizen's United threatens our Democracy, and will fight for universal health care. I am David Pollock. AMA

Read the rest of the interview or ask your own questions by going to Reddit:

David Pollock is going to need netroots support if he is going to be among the top two candidates in a crowded primary of well funded challengers that includes Tony Strickland, Linda Parks, and Steve Bennett.